Humility - In a Nutshell

I'm thrilled that one of my fellow writers has written a thought provoking devotional for me to share. Please welcome Pat Dyer.

In A Dozen Apologies, once Mara accepts Jesus Christ as Lord of her life, she begins to learn about humility. It can be a hard pill to swallow. 

The Macmillan Dictionary defines humility as a behavior that shows you are not proud and not thinking that you are better than other people. Synonyms for humility are modesty, unassuming, undemanding, unpretentious, low-profile. Humility is the polar opposite of pride.

Since I’ve never consciously considered myself “better than” anyone else and tend to shun the limelight, it came as a bit of a shock when God revealed my pride to me. So I said, “Okay, I need to know more.” I began to study humility/pride. Wow— was I a proud puppy!

Here are a few of the things that I learned. 

Numero Uno: You don’t have to be overtly arrogant to be prideful.

Proud people

• are often critical of what others do or say, whether verbally or not.

• complain a lot.

• are self-sufficient (they think).

• are often discontent and angry.

• don’t spend much time in God’s Word.

• don’t accept teaching from others.

• are wrapped up in their own needs and desires.

• worry a lot—fear.

In addition to alleviating the issues listed above, why cultivate a humble spirit?

It’s an act of obedience to God. “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God …” I Peter 5:6a. (NKJV)

We are to follow Christ as our example. “ Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Philippians 2: 5-8 (NKJV)

Humility brings peace. “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” Proverbs 15:1a

Humility does not in any way lessen your worth. It simply acknowledges the fact that others are no more or less as important as you. I like C. S. Lewis’ quote: “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less.”

“Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.  Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.” Philippians 2:3-11 

Humility gives us confidence, knowing and acknowledging that God is in control of everything, even when we want to think “No need to bother God. I’ve got this.” 

Finally, humility must be real. John Climacus, a seventh century monk also known as St. John of the Ladder, wrote: “The image of utmost pride is a man who, for the sake of glory, hypocritically exhibits virtues which he does not possess.” 

There is nothing more off-putting than a person whose humility is false. Funny thing is—

 that kind of humility is transparent. 

About Pat:

Pat was transplanted from upstate New York to Florida at the tender age of five.  Now married to a Georgia cracker for almost fifty years and retired from a public service job, she enjoys writing and spending time with her children, grandchildren, and ten great-grandchildren. 

A member of American Christian Fiction Writers and ACFW Central Florida Chapter, Pat has served as past secretary and publicity chairperson.  Writing inspirational stories from the heart, she strives to provide encouragement and light through Jesus to those who read them.

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Join us in enjoying and learning from Mara's adventures. A Dozen Apologies 

In today's chapter, Mara finds a messy job on a chicken farm and has to face some ugly consequences of her thoughtless game. It's quite humbling. If you aren't familiar with this story, here's the synopsis.

Mara Adkins, a promising fashion designer, has fallen off the ladder of success, and she can’t seem to

get up.

In college, Mara and her sorority sisters played an ugly game, and Mara was usually the winner. She’d date men she considered geeks, win their confidence, and then she’d dump them publicly. When Mara begins work for a prestigious clothing designer in New York, she gets her comeuppance. Her boyfriend steals her designs and wins a coveted position. He fires her, and she returns in shame to her home in Spartanburg, South Carolina, where life for others has changed for the better.

Mara’s parents, always seemingly one step from a divorce, have rediscovered their love for each other, but more importantly they have placed Christ in the center of that love. The changes Mara sees in their lives cause her to seek Christ. Mara’s heart is pierced by her actions toward the twelve men she’d wronged in college, and she sets out to apologize to each of them. A girl with that many amends to make, though, needs money for travel, and Mara finds more ways to lose a job that she ever thought possible.

Mara stumbles, bumbles, and humbles her way toward employment and toward possible reconciliation with the twelve men she humiliated to find that God truly does look upon the heart, and that He has chosen the heart of one of the men for her to have and to hold.

Prayer Closet

Matthew 6:5-6

I had a friend who used to tell me to say a prayer for her every time I went to church. It annoyed me because it seemed like she thought I could only pray when I was in church. Although I prayed in church, most of my prayer life has happened wherever I happen to be.

In my living room, reading my Bible.

In my kitchen, doing dishes.

In my car, waiting at a stop light.

When I was a child, I actually knelt by the bed to say my prayers at night.

But here, Jesus tells us to go away to somewhere private to pray.

Over the years I’ve found some beautiful private places. One of my favorites when I was a kid was the campfire circle at Mount Zion. I liked sitting on one of the benches and looking over the lake and the mountains while I talked to Him.

There were two small chapels at Forest Home, the camp where I worked during the summers in college. One had floor to ceiling windows that looked over a lake and mountains. The other was a traditional stone chapel where I fainted after kneeling on the cold floor too long.

When I was in college, I did my best praying while I walked through the college parking lot. I prayed aloud because there was no one around to hear me except for God.

This year, I saw the most beautiful prayer chapel I’ve ever been in. It’s on the North Greenville University campus. The chapel is built as a small square with a tile pool in the middle. One end has a series of stone walls rising to the ceiling, with water falling down them into the pool. Ferns and other water plants grow in the crevices around the water. Wooden kneelers face the other three sides of the pool. There are no benches, so you have to kneel to pray. It is one of the most peaceful places I have ever been in.

There are lots of places we can pray and lots of ways we should pray. A beautiful chapel like this one makes it easy, but even if I only have a messy bedroom available, I can still go away to pray in private. The important thing is to spend time with my Father in private.

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In today’s chapter of A Dozen Apologies, Mara goes to Greenville for her apology. I’m hoping that she found some time to go to the prayer chapel on the campus, but even if she didn’t, she definitely needed to spend some time in prayer. What she’s been doing is really hard.

Selfish Sorry

Psalm 38

David was in great pain, presumably as a result of unconfessed sin. In the midst of his moaning about his pain, he confessed the sin. Then he urged God to save him. This raises a question about repentance.

Am I sorry for the bad things I’ve done or am I sorry for the consequences of the sin?

Am I sorry I have offended God and hurt people or am I sorry because I feel badly about it?

Repentance requires a recognition of my sin.

Recognition of sin makes me sorry that I did it.

Sorrow makes me feel badly that I’m a sinner.

Forgiveness makes me feel better.

So here’s the dilemma. When I repent, do I ask for forgiveness so I’ll feel better?

While I was writing my chapter of A Dozen Apologies, I wrestled with this problem. Mara, the main character asked a lot of men for forgiveness. She did it in obedience to Jesus’ instruction that we should be reconciled to anyone who has something against us before we offer our sacrifice on the altar. (Matthew 5:23-24) It was a really hard thing for her to do. But some of them questioned her motives. Did she say she was sorry because she wanted to be forgiven or because she was sorry?

When I sin, should I say “I’m sorry”or should I just say “Please forgive me?”

Maybe this is a false dilemma. But I think it addresses the true nature of repentance. It makes me look a little deeper when I see my sin. It makes me turn to God to ask for true repentance.

Mara’s journey of repentance is being published right now. You can read her story here. I hope you enjoy it.

Repentance

Luke 3:7-9

Jesus started His ministry with the same message as John the Baptist.

 “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.^”

I don’t usually think of Jesus calling people to repent, except when He was haranguing the Pharisees. I see Him teaching people about the Kingdom of God and healing them and training His disciples. But the message of repentance preceded all the other things (except the miracle He performed as a special favor to His mother).

So if the first message is to repent, I have to understand what that means. Merriam Webster on-line says it is “to feel or show that you are sorry for something bad or wrong that you did and that you want to do what is right.” This is a start, but I think there must be more to repentance.

I’ve often felt sorry after eating too many slices of pizza because I feel really uncomfortable for a long time. When I’m stuffed and feeling a little sick, I really want to eat less next time. But when next time comes, the pizza looks so good, and I’m hungry, so I keep eating, even though I told myself I’d only have one piece. I don’t think I ever really repented of eating too much, even though I was sorry I did.

According to Easton’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary, one of the Greek words for repentance, metanoeo, means to change one’s mind and purpose. So it’s not enough for me to be sorry I ate too much. I have to change what I think about food and what I intend to do about it. In other words, if I truly repent of eating too much, I have to change the reason I eat pizza. Instead of doing it because I like to eat, I should eat to satisfy my hunger and nourish my body.

John the Baptist said it in a much simpler way than that. “Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God.” (Luke 3:8)

The main character in a new book I’ve contributed to did that. Mara hurt a lot of people before she was saved. When she came to know the Lord, she repented. She was not only sorry she hurt people, she proved it by finding each of them to tell them so. She changed her mind and purpose. I encourage you to read Mara’s story. You might find it encouraging.

A Dozen Apologies

Mara Adkins, a promising fashion designer, has fallen off the ladder of success, and she can’t seem to

get up.

In college, Mara and her sorority sisters played an ugly game, and Mara was usually the winner. She’d date men she considered geeks, win their confidence, and then she’d dump them publicly. When Mara begins work for a prestigious clothing designer in New York, she gets her comeuppance. Her boyfriend steals her designs and wins a coveted position. He fires her, and she returns in shame to her home in Spartanburg, South Carolina, where life for others has changed for the better.

Mara’s parents, always seemingly one step from a divorce, have rediscovered their love for each other, but more importantly they have placed Christ in the center of that love. The changes Mara sees in their lives cause her to seek Christ. Mara’s heart is pierced by her actions toward the twelve men she’d wronged in college, and she sets out to apologize to each of them. A girl with that many amends to make, though, needs money for travel, and Mara finds more ways to lose a job that she ever thought possible.

Mara stumbles, bumbles, and humbles her way toward employment and toward possible reconciliation with the twelve men she humiliated to find that God truly does look upon the heart, and that He has chosen the heart of one of the men for her to have and to hold.